You could hear a pin drop as former Vice-President Dick
Cheney described what it was like to be at the White House during the 9-11
crisis that occurred Sept. 11, 2001.

He was
speaking to 250 members of the Republican Party at a Lincoln Day dinner in Cody
May 25.His daughter, Wyoming’s current
U. S. Representative Liz Cheney, was interviewing her father as part of a
program lined up for that night.

And it was a
very big night. Political leaders from all over the state plus candidates for
all the major offices were there, along with their entourages.

But this night
belonged to Cheney.

The former
Vice-President, who served with President George W. Bush from 2000 to 2008,
received a heart transplant six years ago. He looks vibrant and healthy at the
age of 77.

Cheney spoke
manner-of-factly as he recounted that fateful day when more than 3,000 American
citizens died in terrorist attacks.

Although it certainly
was not a funny moment at the time, some folks chuckled when Cheney recalled a
burly secret service agent walking into his West Wing office, grabbing him by
the collar and his belt and literally hefting him in the air and whisking him
out of the room.

The White
House staff all knew about the commercial airliners that had crashed into the Twin
Towers in New York City but now it was determined that a hijacked airliner was
headed toward Washington D. C.

Cheney went to the war room deep
beneath the capitol complex and then was faced with a horrible decision.

“Transportation
Secretary Norman Mineta said he thought there four to six planes that had been
hijacked. And I was told an airliner was headed our way.Should our fighters shoot it down?” Cheney
recalled being asked.

“I gave the
order to shoot down that plane,” he recalled.

The fighters
were too late to intercept the first airliner, which ultimately crashed into
the Pentagon.

The second
airliner was the famous Flight 93, whose passengers had been called by
relatives telling them about the Twin Towers crashes.“Those brave souls took their own plane down
killing themselves but saving countless others,” Cheney concluded.

Cheney who has
resided in Jackson for years has lived one of the most amazing careers in
American politics. He was the youngest presidential chief of staff in history
(for President Gerald Ford), a U. S Representative for Wyoming, a Secretary of
Defense during the first Gulf War and then Vice-President for eight years
during the George W. Bush administration.

When asked
what his favorite job was during all these times, he said Secretary of Defense
had to top the list.

He heaped
massive praise on the members of the military and recalled some interesting
times with Gen. Colin Powell, then head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Gen.
Norman Schwarzkopf.

He called the
efforts of the American forces “magnificent.” He was proud that the USA could
do things that no other military force in the world could do.

“We used
stealth technology and precision missile strikes, which no other country
possessed, “ he said.

But Cheney was
not the only star of the evening. U. S. Sen. John Barrasso gave a rousing call
to action for the true believers in attendance.Barrasso is campaigning for another term in the Senate this year.

Cody’s hometown
hero, former U. S. Senator Al Simpson, was the emcee and asked Cheney to tell a
different version of one of the most famous political stories in Wyoming lore.

Cheney: “Al
and I were running for reelection for our two seats during the same campaign
period. I had spent the night in Lander at Judge Jack Nicholas’ home but needed
to get up early and get to Riverton for a radio interview.

“The radio
station was always on the edge of Riverton near the Wind River and I pulled in
and dashed through the front door.”

“Next thing I
knew there was woman in her nightgown. She was vacuuming as I recall. A baby
was crawling in the corner. I asked her if this was the radio station?”

“No,” the
woman said, “they just moved downtown. We just moved here. By the way, who are
you?”

Cheney then
paused and told the Cody crowd: “My name is Al Simpson and I am running for the
Senate. I would very much appreciate your vote.”

Then he dashed
out of the house and headed downtown to the real radio station building.